BOULDER, CO (September 5, 2023) –The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently released a report claiming that the problems of inequality and inadequacy of public school funding have largely been solved. This is incorrect, according to a review of the report.
Bruce Baker, professor and chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami, reviewed Think Again: Is Education Funding in America Still Unequal? and found it lacking any sort of guidance to inform policymakers about state school finance issues.
While the Fordham report does acknowledge that additional school funds may be necessary in some cases, it suggests those are relatively few. Relying on national funding averages that can mask the shortchanging of districts serving vulnerable student populations, the report’s analysis is too coarse-grained to inform state-level policy, where inequities and inadequacies persist despite the report’s assertion otherwise.
The Fordham report also recommends that policymakers stop pursuing funding adequacy (because the concept is too subjective and unscientific) and focus instead on improving efficiency and on equalizing tangible resources like teacher compensation. This argument ignores a vast literature detailing rigorous methods for analyzing education costs, allowing for reasonable calculation of funding necessary to provide all students with genuinely equal educational opportunity.
Professor Baker’s critique of the report further points out its lack of attention to the persistent disparities and underfunding in many states’ schools and districts, as well as the well-established connections between spending levels and crucial resources such as teacher wages and class sizes. Overall, the report lacks a sound evidentiary base and provides no reliable or useful guidance for policymakers.
Find the review, by Bruce Baker, at:
http://nepc.colorado.edu/review/education-funding
Find Think Again: Is Education Funding in America Still Unequal?, written by Adam Tyner and published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, at:
https://fordhaminstitute.org/sites/default/files/publication/pdfs/think-again-education-funding-america-still-unequal-final-7-11.pdf